The Quiet Girl(2022)
A quiet, neglected girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with relatives for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one.
The Quiet Girl(2022)
"She says as much as she needs to say." Super LTD has revealed an official US trailer for The Quiet Girl, a wonderful little Irish film that is opening in the US starting in February. The film is Ireland's official entry in the Best International Film category at the Oscars this year, and it will have a week qualifying run in the US in December. Set in rural Ireland 1981, the film introduces us to Cáit. She is a quiet, neglected girl who is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents for the summer. She blossoms in their care, but in this house where there are meant to be no secrets, she discovers one. This is really beautiful film because it's a rare film that shows us what it's like to be raised by and care for by a family that properly loves their children. It's nice to see this instead of all the trauma and pain, and bad parents, in so many other stories. Starring Catherine Clinch, Carrie Crowley, Andrew Bennett, and Michael Patric. I enjoyed this film, one of the undiscovered gems of 2022. If this trailer catches your attention, please watch the film.
Meanwhile, from Ireland, The Quiet Girl, made with sensitivity and care by first-time writer-director Colm Bairead, combines serene editing, quiet reserves of strength, and subdued performances that allow you to think and feel instead of just watch. It mercifully uses words sparingly, without the padded pointlessness injected by most commercially driven American filmmakers to give viewers more time to waste more money at the concession stand. Movies rarely attempt to show the power in what is understated and restrained; this one is truly about what happens between the lines to fill in the spaces.
I love this movie so much. I love that this is a movie you sit with. I love its slowness, and its quiet compassion. Many movies are very fast and loud now, but even among those that are not, The Quiet Girl is uniquely contemplative; few are as considered, as unassumingly pensive as this one. It is a treasure, and a gift.
Bairéad's approach here aligns with his career as a documentary filmmaker, which involves a lot of patient observance and immersion into a world. The Quiet Girl is just like that, quietly watching the summer unfold and meditating upon its little tragedies and beauties, and beautiful it is. The film often feels like a Terrence Malick movie for kids and families, awash in gorgeous cinematography of nature and close-ups of people caught up in internal conflicts. Kate McCullough had done cinematography with Bairéad on the documentary films, and her work here captures that same observational sense of presence.
Bennett is ultimately heartbreaking and unforgettable as a very sturdy older man who has a ton of love in his heart, but has perhaps been too hurt and is too much of a traditional 'man' to easily tap into those emotions. The film's best relationship may be between him and Cáit, two very quiet people who begin to open up in little, genuine, beautiful ways. It's a towering performance that's somehow also very small, and altogether masterful.
Nevertheless, The Quiet Girl is a very different movie, though both films are anchored by a strong performance from a young actor. Clinch makes her onscreen debut here, and it's impressive to see how much she can do with so little. Cait doesn't always speak, leaving it up to the actor to convey her thoughts and feelings through physical gestures. Over the course of The Quiet Girl, she starts to open up. Remarkably, though, the title of the film never becomes inaccurate. Instead, Bairéad sends the message that Cait's newfound comfort doesn't erase her inherent shyness. Eibhlín and Seán accept her for who she is in a way her primary family does not. Bairéad makes the development of Cait's relationships with the two adults feel organic and earned. There's no dramatic coming together, but instead a series of soft, poignant moments. A cookie left as a treat, a makeshift competition involving chores. The little things that make up the domesticity of a quiet life.
The Quiet Girl is far from a showy drama, which could give the impression it is slight and unmemorable. The opposite is true, and in fact, its strength lies in its unfussy approach to telling Cait's story. Like its protagonist, The Quiet Girl is quiet, sensitive, and not to be underestimated in the Oscars race. It reaffirms the idea that there is a place for everyone in this world. It's a comforting notion after the recent years of unease and disconnection.
Set in rural Ireland in 1981, Colm Bairéad's exquisite debut feature is a powerful coming-of-age drama told through the eyes of a young girl. Cáit (newcomer Catherine Clinch) is a nine-year-old lost among a large and impoverished dysfunctional family that has little time or resources to devote to her. Struggling at school and at home, she has learned to keep quiet and carry on, especially as her pregnant mother prepares for her impending due date. When Cáit is sent to live with distant relatives for the summer, she receives a warm reception from Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley, SMOTHER), but struggles to connect with Seán (Andrew Bennett), who keeps a gruff distance. Over time, however, their strained relationship begins to soften, and Cáit blossoms in the couple's care. But even in this most loving of homes, Cáit discovers some painful secrets. Winner of seven awards at the 2022 Irish Film and Television Awards and currently the highest-grossing Irish-language film of all time, THE QUIET GIRL reveals itself as a profound exploration of love, loss and the places that become home. Winner, Best Feature Film, Special Mention (Generation Kplus), 2022 Berlin International Film Festival; Winner, Audience Award and Discovery Award, Best Director, 2022 Dublin International Film Festival. 041b061a72